Commercial Metal Roofing

How They Fail

1. Fastener washers. Thousands of neoprene washers dry out and crack in Texas sun, and each becomes a small hole. This is the number one source of leaks on R panel roofs and it is a maintenance item, not a roof failure.
2. Panel end laps, where sealant tape ages and water tracks back uphill.
3. Penetrations and curbs, because added HVAC equipment means cutting a roof designed as continuous panels.
4. Thermal movement working fasteners loose over years.
5. Corrosion at cut edges and where dissimilar metals were put in contact.

Three Options Short Of Tear Off

Fastener and sealant retrofit. Every fastener replaced with an oversized shank screw and new washer, plus resealed end laps. Labor heavy and dramatically cheaper than a new roof. On a structurally sound panel roof leaking at fasteners, this is usually the answer.

Coating over metal. A compatible system with reinforcing fabric over every seam and fastener creates a continuous surface, adds reflectivity and stops fastener leaks wholesale. The substrate has to be sound and rust treated first.

Retrofit framing. Sub-purlins over the existing panels supporting a new standing seam roof above. No tear off, no interruption below, and it lets you add slope and insulation. Most expensive of the three.

Working Around Your Operation

Most of this happens on occupied buildings. Night and weekend phasing, docks and entrances kept clear, odor and noise controlled for medical and restaurant tenants, and coordination with your HVAC vendor rather than around them.

Read Your Policy Before The Next Hail Claim

Many Texas commercial policies carry a cosmetic damage exclusion, and metal roofs are usually what it was written for. Hail dents panels. The panels keep shedding water, so the carrier takes the position that the roof suffered no loss of function and pays nothing, even though your building now looks hammered from the parking lot and from every drone photo a future buyer takes.

Where the argument gets real is the difference between denting and actual damage. Fractured paint and coating systems expose bare steel to weather. Panels deformed enough to hold water against a seam are a functional problem. Torn sealant at end laps is a functional problem. We document those separately from cosmetic denting so the claim is about the right things. Find out now whether the exclusion is in your policy, because the time to negotiate that endorsement is at renewal and not the week after a storm.